What Now?
by mecabitchell
Summary: Takes place right after PP3: The Bellas have one more night left before they all get on their separate flights to go home. But with Amy moving out, Chloe getting into vet school, and Beca getting signed to DJ Khaled, what now?
1. Chapter 1

"This is aca-unbelievable!" Emily squealed as Beca finally strolled into the bar with the rest of the Bellas.

Beca scrunched her nose, "if you're gonna 'aca' something, at least do it right. You're lucky you're pretty, Legacy."

All the girls laughed at their former captain. They knew, no matter how famous or successful Beca may become, she'll never change to accommodate Hollywood lifestyle. But that doesn't mean they can't tease her about it.

"I don't see anybody else getting signed to some big-time producer so, Beca's paying tonight, right?" Cynthia Rose laughed at her own joke, causing everyone else to laugh and agree.

"What? Why me? Amy just found out she's a millionaire!" Beca threw her hands up, completely jokingly offended that her friends are already using her for her money.

Amy gathered Beca in a hug, squeezing the smaller girl in a hug so tight, Beca's legs dangled over the ground, "because, Shawshank, I'm going to Urban Outfitters after this. I need to save my money."

The Bellas all laughed at Beca squirming in Amy's arms, still not loving hugs but always accepting them from her best friends.

The night carried on with everybody getting drunk and dancing, letting loose, and some unwelcome table dancing. When Chloe accidentally dropped it too low from the bar counter, flashing everyone in the bar, they were all kicked out.

"I can't...believe...you ripped your underwear!" Beca was crying-laughing at Chloe, unable to contain herself. They were the most sober of all the girls, believe it or not, and had to chaperone everyone else to their rooms before they could sleep.

Everybody had their own rooms, granted right next to one another, but Beca decided to follow Chloe into her room anyways. Mostly just to continue making fun of the girl.

"Shut up, Beca!" Chloe laughed and pushed Beca so hard, the girl went tumbling into the wall. "It's not funny." She tried to pout, but seeing Beca slouching on the wall with tears in her eyes was a sight she couldn't keep a straight face to.

"I am never going to let you live this down." Beca slid down the wall, sitting with her back against it and her eyes closed. She felt like she was in a deep sleep when Chloe reemerged back in front of her two minutes later.

"LOOK!" Chloe screamed, waking Beca up to a pair of underwear in her face. "It really is so funny!" She held up her ripped panites, a long slit trailing the back, effectively ripping Hello Kitty's face in half.

Beca opened her eyes and screamed with hilarity at the sight. "Dude, how thick are you?" She laughed and swatted the ripped panties from her face, grabbing Chloe's arm to help herself up.

"Thick with like, four C's." Both girls laughed and walked over to Chloe's luggage, opening it up and both pulling a large t-shirt from the bag. Taking what seemed like years to finally undress themselves and pull on the shirt, they laid down in bed together.

"Chlo, dude. This is the first time we've shared a bed in like two weeks." Beca rolled over and grabbed Chloe's cheek, pinching it to gain her attention.

Chloe rolled and pinched Beca's nose, "I know, silly. I've missed you too."

Beca inhaled largely from her mouth, swatting away Chloe's hand. "DUDE! You could've killed me!"

"But you're alive now."

Beca furrowed her brows, incapable of battling that logic.

"Remember how Amy said she was moving when we got back? Are you going to move too?" Beca suddenly turned very serious, her dark eyes now glowing with tears in the dark.

Chloe turned her head to face Beca again, sobering up when she saw her best friend's expression. "No, Beca. I'm going to stay right there with you. Even though you'll spend most of your time travelling back and forth to LA and I'll have to spend a few nights away whenever school gets busy, we promised to stay together, remember?"

Beca shook her head rapidly, tears now falling a little quicker. "I miss you and now Amy's leaving me and when you're a pet doctor you're going to leave me and I'm going to be all alone with the turtle!"

"Beca, sweetie, we don't have a turtle. And I'm never going to leave you." Chloe rubbed her hand on Beca's arm, trying to soothe the obviously intoxicated girl.

"Theo's the turtle!" Beca was crying furiously now. Chloe knew that whenever Beca drank enough to cry, she would not remember this conversation. So Chloe pulled Beca close and tangled their limbs together, holding each other tight.

When Chloe knew Beca had finally fallen asleep, she let herself drift off as well, thoughts of her best friend flooding her brain.

* * *

"Seriously, Amy? You bought your own plane to fly back on, and you won't even take me and Chloe?" Beca stood looking incredulously at her friend, happy that she's happy, but offended she won't be receiving a private ride back.

"Actually, Shawshank, I had some people drop by the apartment and they already picked up my stuff. I'm heading back to Sydney!" Of course Amy would drop news like this at the very last moment. But before Beca could even process it, Chloe was being held by Amy.

Chloe cried into Amy's shoulder, "I'm going to miss you so much. Remember to call me when you land."

"Oh, Ginger. Don't get to blubbery. I left an old pair of knickers that you twig bitches can rub on yourselves when you need some good confidence." Amy smiled genuinely, leaving Beca and Chloe to know she wasn't joking.

"Gross, dude. I'm going to miss you." Beca raised her hand to awkwardly pat Amy on the shoulder, but the Australian wasn't having any of it. She quickly dropped Chloe and picked up Beca, causing her to scream. "AMY! Put me down now!"

The three girls laughed, said their goodbyes, and cried. Beca was having a hard time holding back her tears. "Who knew badass-Beca-Mitchell had feelings?" Chloe teased as they took their seats on the plane, shoving her shoulder gently.

"Shut it, Beale. I'm just upset you got the window seat." Beca sniffled and turned her head to the aisle, quickly wiping her tears away.

Chloe laughed at Beca's lame attempt of an excuse and pinched her cheek. "It's just you and me now, Mitchell." She placed her hand on Beca's thigh. "It's okay to cry, I'm going to miss her too."

"I'm just crying because now I have to deal with you alone." Beca joked again, causing Chloe to give another shove to her shoulder.

The long flight home was spent with quiet conversations, shared headphones, snacks and drinks, and napping on each other's shoulders. Chloe had the bladder of a squirrel, causing her to wake Beca four times during her nap to make her move so that Chloe could get to the bathroom. Beca acted like she hated it, was bothered by how bothersome Chloe was being, but she couldn't help the happy feeling she got knowing that this is how the next stage of their life will be: just Beca and Chloe.

* * *

"Wow. I never realized how much shit was actually Amy's." The two former Bellas captains walked into their apartment, luggages in tow, and took in the sight before them.

Aside from the fold-out bed, the mattress, the table and chair, and their clothes, the apartment was empty. There were no more wigs and kitchen appliances or toilet paper or towels; even though Beca and Chloe paid for the rent, Amy was the one that kept the place full.

"I know. It's naked in here." Beca scrunched her nose at Chloe's statement, never fully grasping the redhead's strange vocabulary.

"Let's just call the girls then sleep. We can unpack and put clothes on the apartment tomorrow." Chloe turned around, giving Beca a very confused look. "It's because...like naked...you said the apartment is-never mind." Beca rolled her eyes at herself.

"Adorable as always." Chloe smiled and kissed her hand, then smacking Beca on the cheek.

"Lovely." Beca grumbled away to the bathroom, using her suitcase to create some form of privacy while she peed.

* * *

"So...what's now? There's like...two beds...and two of us. Which-like which bed do you want?" Beca and Chloe had finally finished calling all the girls and were now ready for bed. They stood in the kitchen, staring at the two beds, trying to decide what to do next.

"I'm going to school so I'll be racking up a bunch of bills which would leave for you to having to take over most of the payments so I can totally take the fold-out-" Chloe tried to negotiate a reason for why she should get the fold-out, but was quickly interrupted by Beca.

"Well, no, but I'll be flying to LA a lot and I would hate for you to like have to sleep in that bed when I'll be gone so I can take the fold-out-" Beca rebutted, but then she was interrupted by Chloe.

"Exactly! So whenever you are here, you can at least have the comfy bed!" Chloe smiled and tried to insist Beca to have the better bed.

A moment of silence passed between them, neither knowing what to do. "Flip for it?" Beca asked, pulling a quarter from the bowl by the door. Chloe shrugged and, as Beca flipped the coin, she called heads.

"It's tails." Beca pursed her lips and turned her body to face Chloe. "But like, if you want the big bed you can have it. I really don't mind."

"No, the coin spoke. Goodnight, Beca." Chloe gave Beca a soft smile then climbed into the fold-out bed. She rolled over to turn off the lamp as soon as she heard Beca got into her bed.

The two girls laid in silence, both staring at the ceiling as they attempted to fall asleep. Unbeknownst to each other, they both felt how empty it was to be back in this apartment, but not back next to each other. Nearly an hour has passed with neither girl falling asleep nor even moving. It was near two in the morning when Beca cleared her throat.

"Hey, Chloe? Are you awake?" She whispered, but just loud enough for Chloe to hear her.

"Yeah. Can't sleep?" Chloe panicked slightly at the thought of Beca not being able to sleep, knowing how bad her insomnia was throughout her years in college.

"Can I come over?" Beca asked hopefully. She missed sleeping next to Chloe and it just didn't feel right to be in their apartment together but not sleeping together. In the most platonic way possible, of course.

"Come here, sweetie." Beca quickly jumped out of bed, bringing over a stuffed animal and climbing into bed with Chloe. Nobody else knew about Beca's stuffed animal, nobody else was allowed to.

But Chloe knew. She'd known since Beca's sophomore year when they lived together in the same house. Chloe had learned about Beca's insomnia, which lead to countless nights where Beca would sneak over to Chloe's room to have someone hold her while she held her bunny.

"And hello to you too, Mr. Oreo." Chloe booped his nose when Beca climbed in next to Chloe. She turned her back on the redhead, allowing Chloe to spoon her, while she cuddled Mr. Oreo.

"I miss this."

"I miss you."


	2. Chapter 2

**Let me know what you guys want from this fic (slowburn, fluff, angst, etc.)!**

* * *

"Good morning, sweetie!" Chloe chirped as she saw Beca finally roll off the bed and shuffle over to the bathroom. The only response she got, however, was a mere grumble and a middle finger.

Chloe smiled as she heated up Beca's coffee and plated a croissant for her breakfast. "Fuck you for being a morning person." Beca sat at the table and banged her face to the platform, moaning as she rolled her head to the side.

"You used to wake me up every morning. You're just grumpy because you don't get to wake me up anymore!" Chloe slapped Beca's cheek and put her jacket on, about ready to leave for her first day of school.

"Shit, I forgot you have class today. I can take you, just give me a second to put some shoes on." Beca quickly jumped up from her seat and scrambled around the room, putting on two different shoes: a bunny slipper and one of Chloe's heels.

Chloe quickly took a picture of Beca before she let out the laugh she was desperately keeping in. "You: go back to bed. You only have a few more days of freedom before you work. I can walk myself." Chloe kissed her hand and gave Beca's cheek a gentle tap before she rushed out the door.

Less than a minute after Chloe left, Beca's phone chimed with a notification from Instagram.

 _ **chloebeale has tagged you in a photo**_

Beca groaned and looked down at what she was wearing. She had on a very dirty t-shirt that barely came down above her butt, along with her 'old-man-socks', as Chloe liked to call them, and the two shoes she so haphazardly threw on.

As she guessed, Chloe posted the picture of Beca standing in their living room with the caption, "She tries so hard for me!"

 _ **becamitchell: you're the worst.**_

 _ **cacie_stonrad: Beca's whipped!**_

 _ **posenaubrey: Now she really looks like a hobbit**_

 _ **lukeuk: that's a good look for you becky**_

Beca was going to get Chloe back for posting that picture of her.

* * *

"Theo, what's up?" Beca picked up the call and flopped onto her bed. It was nearing noon now and she still had no idea what to do for the rest of the day, so she was actually quite glad to see Theo calling.

" _Just making sure you're awake. Khaled wants you to record a track for him before you come in next week, think you can manage?"_

"Sure, I guess. It will probably be a bit rough since I usually take a couple weeks with each mix, but I'll just throw together a quick demo-"

" _No, Beca. He wants an original. Written, recorded, and produced by Monday. Can you do it?"_

Beca began to panic. Not only had she never written an original song _in her life,_ she has also never been able to produce a full song in less than two weeks, much less in one. But this was her entryway into becoming a serious producer. If that meant she had to be a solo artist for a little while, so be it. She could handle it. Right?

"Um. Yeah, I guess. Yeah. I'm cool like that." Beca shook her head a little, cringing at how obviously nervous she was.

" _Great. I'll text you details about where we're meeting later. Get crackin', Beca."_

"Beca, out!" She immediately hung up the phone, flung it off the bed and threw her hands over her face. Not only did she get this awkward and nervous with her internship, but now she was doing it again for her career. She needed to put herself together, and fast.

 _Okay, Beca. You are Beca-fucking-Mitchell. DJ B-Mitch. Reggie. Super cool, three time collegiate a cappella champ. You sang backup for Snoop Dogg. You broke up with Jesse and are now an independent woman. You can do this. Just, write a song._

Beca stared at the ceiling, mentally giving herself a pep talk as she tried to prepare for writing music. All she needed to do was write lyrics, produce good music to back it up, record it, produce a full demo, and make sure it's absolutely perfect for DJ Khaled in one week.

No big deal.

So, as she got out a sheet of paper and a pencil, she realized she absolutely could not do this on her own. Without thinking, she put on her shoes, grabbed her keys and wallet, then headed straight for the subway station.

Within half an hour, she was standing outside of New York University, the number one veterinary college in all of New York. She knew that Chloe was somewhere in the large building, taking all the classes she needed to become the wonderful veterinarian she was destined to be.

As she contemplated texting Chloe to let her know that she was there or leaving before she made a fool of herself, a bell rung and a pack of university students flooded from every door.

Beca was about to run, about to get away from all the people that could tell she obviously didn't belong, when someone tapped her on the shoulder. Hoping and praying that it would be Chloe, she turned around with a nervous smile on her face.

"You're not Chloe." She deadpanned, not realizing what she said as she said it.

"Um, no, sorry. It's just, I saw you on YouTube the other day. You're Beca Mitchell, right? DJ Khaled's next big thing?" The young man standing before her was very tall, at least six feet tall, but anybody above 5'9" looked just the same to Beca's 5'2" stature.

Beca had never anticipated anyone to ever recognize her from that video. From the disaster video including Fat Amy's vagina? Maybe. But never from her performing for DJ Khaled. "Um, I mean, yeah."

"That's so cool. My name's Trenton Sanders. I'm an artist, too. Mostly my own stuff, but I'd love to get your input on some of my music. You obviously know what you're doing." He flashed a big toothy smile as he fished for the phone in his pocket.

Beca did not have the time to take on any new projects. Although, she couldn't help feel a little proud of herself for becoming successful enough for even one person to recognize her and ask her for help on music. "Um, yeah. Sure." She put her number in his phone and gave a tight-lipped smile. It wouldn't matter how famous or successful she could become, she'd never stop being awkward around new people.

"Thank you so much, Ms. Mitchell. Sorry for bothering you!" He skipped away and Beca immediately felt her smile drop. Ms. Mitchell? How old did he think she was? Maybe all this stress was causing her to look older.

"My, my, Beca Mitchell. Did I just see you give Trenton Sanders your phone number?" Chloe came up behind Beca, startling the girl, but not relenting any teasing she had planned.

"Chloe, he literally just called me Ms. Mitchell. How old do I look to you?" Beca used her hands to stretch away any wrinkles she may have on her face, earning a good laugh from Chloe.

"I like the sound of that. What are you doing here, Ms. Mitchell?" Beca punched Chloe square on the bicep, but not hard enough to actually hurt her. Chloe feigned pain as she dramatically dropped her book to the floor and grabbed her arm.

Beca groaned and picked up the textbook. "You're a fucking drama queen. I just wanted to come have lunch with you on your first day."

"So were you lonely and bored or did you miss me?"

"Definitely did not miss you, Beale." Beca rolled her eyes as Chloe led her to a small sandwich shop on campus.

Opening the door for Beca, Chloe bowed her head as she gestured for Beca to go inside, "Ms. Mitchell." Beca knew that Chloe would never let her live this down, and would bet that, by the time Chloe finished all her classes, all the Bellas would know about her encounter with Trenton.

The two girls sat in a corner booth at the shop, enjoying their grilled cheese sandwiches as they talked. Mostly, it was just Beca asking Chloe questions about class and students and professors. After a while though, Chloe noticed Beca pressing the conversation towards her, immediately indicating that something was wrong.

"What happened today? You're more dodgy than usual." Chloe set her sandwich down and focused all her attention on the girl sitting in front.

"Nothing." Beca nibbled on her sandwich and averted Chloe's stare, causing Chloe to grab Beca's grilled cheese and place it on her own plate until Beca talked. "Dude!"

"Tell me what's wrong and I'll give you your food. Spill." Chloe squinted her eyes at Beca and waited patiently for Beca to roll her eyes, groan, then start talking.

As if on cue, Beca did just that. "Theo called me today and told me Khaled wants an original song written, recorded, and produced by Monday. I have _never_ written an original song before! Chloe, I don't think I'm cut out for this shit. I should just be a DJ in dirty nightclubs."

She slammed her face on the table, and Chloe picked her head up by her hair. "Beca Mitchell. No more negative talk from you. You are the single most talented person I've ever heard of, and if anyone can do all that in one week, it's you. Why don't you call Emily and have her help you with the song writing?"

As Chloe released her grip on Beca's hair, her face fell back to the table with a groan. "Ouch. Brutal." Chloe rolled her eyes and ignored the dumb comment. "Do you think Legacy would be up for it?"

"She idolizes you, Beca. Here, I'll call her." Chloe pulled out her phone and dialed Emily's number. It didn't even make it to the second ring before Emily had picked up.

" _Hi, Chloe! It's Emily. I'm so glad you called, I've missed you. I know we just got back from the USO tour together but I miss you guys so much. How are you and Beca doing? Is Beca there? Hi, Beca!"_ Emily sped through the phone at a million miles a minute, causing both Chloe and Beca to smile at her antics.

"Emily, settle. Beca has an important question for you." They heard Emily's breath hitch from the other side of the phone, both knowing she probably had a very serious face plastered on now.

" _Okay. I'm listening."_

"Legacy, Khaled wants me to write and original song and produce it by Monday. Care to help put together a few lyrics with me?"

Immediately, there was a loud shriek coming through the phone, Beca immediately swiping Chloe's phone and pressing the speaker into her chest while she took it off of speakerphone. " _O-M-ACA-G! Of course, Beca! I can fly over there, or you can fly here, or we can FaceTime and figure it out! Whatever you want, I can totally help. I'll be totally cool."_

"Great, calm down. I'll text you later, okay? I'll text you some ideas I have for songs and you can do the same, maybe we can come up with something good, yeah? Later, Junk."

Without waiting for a reply, Beca ended the call. "Love her, but that girl talks forever."

Chloe shook her head and smiled. "Hey, she talks a very normal amount. I'll have you know, many people have told me that she and I are actually very similar." Chloe lifted her chin and smiled at Beca, boasting about how proud she is to be compared to someone like Legacy.

"At least she doesn't run in on stranger's showers. Poor, innocent Emily. Imagine if we did that to her." Beca pretended to wipe a tear from her eye, earning a playful nudge from Chloe.

"Just eat your stupid sandwich, Ms. Mitchell." Chloe threw the grilled cheese at Beca, and to both their surprises, she caught it between her teeth. They cheered loudly and pumped their fists in the air, but as soon as they did, the manager came over and asked them to either quiet down or leave.

* * *

After lunch, Beca walked Chloe back to class, where she had another run-in with Trenton. "Ms. Mitchell! Wait up!"

Beca turned her head to see Trenton running at her with many notebooks in hand, threatening to fall out at any moment. Chloe saw him and started smiling, nudging Beca to be nice. As soon as Trenton caught up, however, Beca put him in his place: "listen, dude, I'm twenty-five years old. We're probably the exact same age, so don't make me feel old. And stop calling me 'Ms. Mitchell,' if you're going to talk to me, call me Beca."

"Sorry, Ms. Mit-Beca. I was just raised to show respect for your idols. It won't happen again." Immediately, Beca started to feel a little bad for being so harsh. He was just a sweet guy that really liked Beca as an artist.

"Anyways, I have to get to class. I'll see you in there, Trenton. Bye, Becs." Chloe ruffled Beca's hair, earning her hand a hard slap and a glare. She just laughed it off, though, knowing Beca secretly does love all the physical attention she gets.

"I have to go soon, too. But maybe we can get together for lunch or something? I have some song ideas I would really like you to look at." Trenton looked at her hopefully, but Beca didn't want anything to do with it. She really did not have time for him and she hopes he can understand that.

"Look, I think you're really sweet and all, but I just have no time at all. Maybe another time, okay?" Beca tried to let him down easy, thinking he was just trying to get her to go on a date with him.

He nodded his head and pulled his notebooks closer together, more concealed from Beca. "Yeah, yeah. I get it. I gotta go." And with that, he rushed off to class, leaving a very guilty Beca to stand alone.

* * *

"Legacy, you're a goddamn genius. But are you sure you don't mind me using your song?" Beca was FaceTiming Emily. She sat with a guitar in hand and near the piano so she could switch instruments to figure out the right sounds for her song.

" _It's totally okay. I was going to scrap this song anyways, but you made it so much better and I'm so glad you did."_ Emily clapped her hands and continued to hum the chorus of the song, testing out how she liked the song.

Beca read over the notes one last time, and was content that, in just five short hours, they were able to finish writing a song. "There's still a lot more instrumental work to be done, but the lyrics are perfect. I'll let you go now, but I'll send you the song when I finish. Thanks, dude."

" _Bye, Beca!"_

As soon as Beca got home from Chloe's school, she called Emily to ask when they would be able to work on the song. But, eager as always, she dropped everything she was doing to be able to help Beca.

They had their lyrics figured out and a simple tune set up, but there were few layers on the instrumental and Beca wanted to perfect that before taking it to the studio for a full recording. So, for another half hour, she played the guitar and tested out different chords to provide a strong melody to her song.

When she decided she needed a break, Chloe had walked through the door, looking very exhausted. "Whoa, dude, who hit you with a bus?" Beca looked at Chloe incredulously. She smelled like literal shit and had dirt all over her clothes. Her hair was disheveled and makeup was smeared all across her face.

"Dogs. So many dogs," was all Chloe said before she dropped her stuff on the floor and slid down with her back to the wall.

Beca laughed and went to the bathroom to turn on the shower for Chloe. She then helped Chloe stand up, hearing all the joints in her knees and feet pop. "Okay, grandma. You're smelling like Amy after Taco Bell, let's get you in the shower."

"You're telling me you don't like this look on me?" Chloe pouted her lip and pinched Beca's cheek.

"Hell no, dude. You're gonna fuck up the whole apartment if you stay there like that. Let's go." Beca tried to drag her to the shower, but Chloe threw her arms around Beca and hugged her tight.

"Do you like this look now?" Chloe laughed and tightened her grip as Beca shrieked and tried to push Chloe off. She smeared her clothes all over Beca's and rubbed the dirt on her face onto Beca's cheek.

"Oh my god, you're fucking nasty!" Beca screamed and pushed back hard, Chloe keeping her grip tight on Beca, dragging them both to the floor. "Dude, you're suffocating me."

Chloe laughed and tickled Beca as they rolled around on the floor of the apartment, screaming at each other. Finally, Chloe got exhausted and released Beca. "I hate you so much." Beca grumbled and tried to wipe the dirt that now covered her body.

"I love you too, sweetie." Chloe kissed Beca's cheek and skipped off to the bathroom, stealing the shower before Beca had a chance to take it first.


End file.
